Mobile Downtown Airport
Encyclopedia
Mobile Downtown Airport is a public use airport
located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district
of Mobile
, a city in Mobile County
, Alabama
, United States
. It is also known as Brookley Field. The airport is part of the Brookley Complex, an industrial complex which lies on the western shore of Mobile Bay
. It is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority. Prior to 1969, the airport was an active military installation known as Brookley Air Force Base
.
According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
for 2009–2013, it is categorized
as a general aviation
facility. This was a change from the 2007–2011 NPIAS Report, when it was categorized as a reliever airport.
railway, and with Interstate 10
. The Brookley Complex is included in Mobile's Foreign Trade Zone
82, a zone that provides special customs procedures to U.S. plants engaged in international trade-related activities.
Brookley includes the largest private employer in Mobile County, ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering
, a subsidiary
of Singapore Technologies Engineering
. Brookley also serves as base of operations for Teledyne Continental Motors and the new Airbus Engineering Center.
The airport has a control tower
and has both a 9600 by 150 ft (2,926.1 by 45.7 m) runway and a 7800 by 150 ft (2,377.4 by 45.7 m) runway. Various instrument approaches to all runways are available, including an on-site VORTAC and instrument landing system
(ILS). The complex is served by a 24-hour fixed base operator
, the Downtown Air Center. In addition to the airport section, the complex is home to many aerospace industries and features direct connections with rail, road, and water transportation.
For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2010, the airport had 82,820 aircraft operations, an average of 226 per day: 49% general aviation
, 43% military
, 5% air taxi
, and 3% scheduled commercial
. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 65% single-engine
, 18% multi-engine, 15% jet
and 3% helicopter
.
, and United Airlines
. FedEx Express also uses the complex for three daily cargo flights from Memphis, Tennessee
. UPS Airlines
has one daily cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky
. The complex is also utilized by ABX Air
(DHL
).
On 29 February 2008, the United States Air Force
announced that a partnership between Northrop Grumman
and EADS
(Airbus' parent company) had won the contract to produce the new KC-45
aerial refueling tanker
to replace the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. The contract would have worth up to $40 billion with 179 planes to be delivered over the next ten to fifteen years, with production of these aircraft will be at Brookley. EADS also announced plans to move its A330-200F freighter assembly line from France to Mobile as well. However, the contract was later cancelled.
The KC-X program was later announced for re-competition. Although Northrop Grumman declined to bid (stating that it considered the RFP to be too heavily weighted in favor of Boeing and its planned Boeing 767 entry), on April 20, 2010, EADS announced it was re-entering the competition on a stand-alone basis, and intended to enter a bid with the KC-45 with final assembly at Brookley.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, a city in Mobile County
Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is also known as Brookley Field. The airport is part of the Brookley Complex, an industrial complex which lies on the western shore of Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
. It is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority. Prior to 1969, the airport was an active military installation known as Brookley Air Force Base
Brookley Air Force Base
Brookley Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Mobile, Alabama. After it closed in 1969, it became Mobile Downtown Airport.- History :...
.
According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. It is developed and maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration . Its purposes are:* to identify all the airports in the U.S...
for 2009–2013, it is categorized
FAA airport categories
The United States Federal Aviation Administration has a system for categorizing public-use airports that is primarily based on the level of commercial passenger traffic through each facility. It is used to determine if an airport is eligible for funding through the federal government's Airport...
as a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
facility. This was a change from the 2007–2011 NPIAS Report, when it was categorized as a reliever airport.
Facilities and services
Brookley is the largest industrial and transportation complex in the region with over 100 companies and 4000 employees on 1700 acre (688 ha). The complex is home to many aerospace industries and features direct connections with Mobile Bay via its own docks, CSXCSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
railway, and with Interstate 10
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...
. The Brookley Complex is included in Mobile's Foreign Trade Zone
Foreign trade zone
A foreign-trade zone in the United States is a geographical area, in United States Ports of Entry Ports of Entry, where commercial merchandise, both domestic and foreign receives the same Customs treatment it would if it were outside the commerce of the United States...
82, a zone that provides special customs procedures to U.S. plants engaged in international trade-related activities.
Brookley includes the largest private employer in Mobile County, ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering
ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering
ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering provides commercial aircraft maintenance to the North and South American aerospace markets. It is located within the Brookley Complex in Mobile, Alabama and is the largest employer in Mobile County, Alabama. The work force includes technical, engineering and...
, a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Singapore Technologies Engineering
Singapore Technologies Engineering
ST Engineering Ltd is an integrated engineering group providing solutions and services in the aerospace, electronics, land systems and marine sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, the group reported revenues of $5.05b in FY2007. With a market capitalisation of about $10b, it ranks among the...
. Brookley also serves as base of operations for Teledyne Continental Motors and the new Airbus Engineering Center.
The airport has a control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
and has both a 9600 by 150 ft (2,926.1 by 45.7 m) runway and a 7800 by 150 ft (2,377.4 by 45.7 m) runway. Various instrument approaches to all runways are available, including an on-site VORTAC and instrument landing system
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
(ILS). The complex is served by a 24-hour fixed base operator
Fixed base operator
A Fixed-base operator or commonly abbreviated FBO is a term developed in the United States after the passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926...
, the Downtown Air Center. In addition to the airport section, the complex is home to many aerospace industries and features direct connections with rail, road, and water transportation.
For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2010, the airport had 82,820 aircraft operations, an average of 226 per day: 49% general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, 43% military
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
, 5% air taxi
Air taxi
An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...
, and 3% scheduled commercial
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 65% single-engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
, 18% multi-engine, 15% jet
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
and 3% helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
.
Cargo and maintenance hub
The Brookley Complex is a maintenance facility for FedEx Express, US AirwaysUS Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
, and United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
. FedEx Express also uses the complex for three daily cargo flights from Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. UPS Airlines
UPS Airlines
UPS Airlines is an American cargo airline owned by United Parcel Service Inc. . The company is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Its home airport is located at Louisville International Airport...
has one daily cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. The complex is also utilized by ABX Air
ABX Air
ABX Air, Inc., formerly Airborne Express, is a cargo airline headquartered at Wilmington Air Park in unincorporated Clinton County, Ohio, United States, near the City of Wilmington. ABX Air operates scheduled, ad hoc charter and ACMI freight services. It also provides flight support services and...
(DHL
DHL
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
).
Expansion
Airbus North America selected the airport for the location of an engineering facility which opened in 2007.On 29 February 2008, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
announced that a partnership between Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
and EADS
EADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...
(Airbus' parent company) had won the contract to produce the new KC-45
Northrop Grumman KC-45
The EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45 is a proposed aerial refueling tanker aircraft based on the Airbus A330 MRTT. The United States Air Force had ordered 179 KC-45As in the first stage of replacing the aging Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker tankers currently in service. However, the contest was reopened in...
aerial refueling tanker
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
to replace the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. The contract would have worth up to $40 billion with 179 planes to be delivered over the next ten to fifteen years, with production of these aircraft will be at Brookley. EADS also announced plans to move its A330-200F freighter assembly line from France to Mobile as well. However, the contract was later cancelled.
The KC-X program was later announced for re-competition. Although Northrop Grumman declined to bid (stating that it considered the RFP to be too heavily weighted in favor of Boeing and its planned Boeing 767 entry), on April 20, 2010, EADS announced it was re-entering the competition on a stand-alone basis, and intended to enter a bid with the KC-45 with final assembly at Brookley.
External links
- Brookley Complex, official website
- Aviation Photos: Mobile - Downtown (Brookley Field / CGAS) from Airliners.netAirliners.netAirliners.net is an aviation website founded by Johan Lundgren, Sweden, in 1997, evolving from his previous Pictures of Modern Airliners site started in 1994...
- Aerial image as of 4 March 2002 from USGS The National Map